How Softball Changed How I Viewed My Sportsmanship

Ever since I learned the ropes, I wanted to play because it has always been my dream to play softball. My mom told me I could try out for Lakeshore Playground that got anyone involved in any sport. There was no such thing as tryouts for this playground. During some of the games, I had my good days and my bad days at either hitting or catching. I loved being on that field. I felt that it was just only my teammates and me on the field waiting for our rivals to hit the ball. That season was a good one, and I will never forget it. This is what started my dreams from just playing on a playground field to being on an actual team. To everyone else it may be just a field with red dirt, but to me it is more than that. It is everything I could dream of because the game is about my teammates and me. I loved my passion, and will continue it later on in my

When I was playing travel softball for Angels Fastpitch in my second year of ten and under softball, this memoir began. My coach would not play me much because he said I was not good enough, he said I could not catch. He said many other things all were horrible. The emotions that came

My mother has been playing competitive softball since before I was born. Even to this day, at the young age of 66, she still enjoys playing on the circuit. My brother was a talented basketball player in high school and junior college until a car accident thwarted his dreams, I myself, was a 3-sport star in high school and I earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I was taught from a very early age that my performance in sports rests with my ability to consistently control my emotions. I have been trained to respond positively inevitable changes and

From the young age of five, through the eleven years full of learning curves and numerous injuries, I was shaped by my self motivation and peers. Softball was a profound component in my daily life. When I was younger I would have never thought softball would have such an incredible impact on my character. Today, my past experiences shape me into an individual who can be seen as not only a leader, but as someone who can work as a team to achieve goals and standards. I remember learning to pitch for the first time.

Since I was five years old softball and sports have been a huge part of my life. In softball, specifically, there are many times of failure and success. High school sports, for me, has taken a lot of my time, effort, and commitment. From the first day I stepped onto the court and field to the last, I want to be able to say I did my best. It has been tough and frustrating at times. I experienced failure many times, even when I did not want to admit it. My moments of failure within high school sports have turned me into the character and person I am today. It has taught me how to take failure and turn it into success. Failure has made me realize that the only way for you to succeed is for you to fail first.

When I first started playing I knew that I wasn't good but I also knew that I could be and do better and that's what i worked hard at. All my coaches and teammates told me that the key to being good in something is to have confidence in yourself, that things would be much more easier if you relaxed and had confidence. That was one of the biggest things that I worked on, being comfortable at what i was doing.

Growing up, both my brother and I were very involved in athletics; from baseball/softball to basketball to football to track and volleyball. A competitive spirit was instilled in my life at a early age. As I got older, I focused mainly on softball; competing around the country in hopes of gaining a college scholarship. Sadly, the summer before my junior year I tore my rotator cuff and labrum in my shoulder and messed up multiple muscles throughout my arm and back. Therefore, my softball career came to an end.

I quit softball for a few reasons but I really wish I stuck with it. One of the minor reasons I quit was because I had a pretty embarrasing pitching experience. I remember because I wasn’t that good at the sport, he coach tended to put me in the outfield since not many girls could hit that far. So, I really wanted to do something a little more important.

At that moment I realized that I had to add something to my game in order to stand out. I soon learned that practice and physicality could only make me better. Freshman year came around and i didn't have a coach that was willing to support me and help me develop into the player i know i am today. Its been a whirlwind of emotions with all the pain and failure I've experienced since my freshman year, when i watched the team go 4-11, To say the least i didn't get a single game but that only taught me to fight harder for what i wanted. Sophomore year came around, and with that a new coaching staff that gave me an opportunity to shine from day one. At the beginning of my sophomore season i thought i wasn't meant to be a goalkeeper, so i switched to attack, after a few games, i didn't like it and my coach could see that i was frustrated not being able to settle in. During a game against Flanagan High School, our goalie let in two goals in a matter of seconds, and our coach

Until I became a high schooler my dream was to grow up always playing softball. Softball was my all time favorite sport to play. My dream was to be a softball athlete my entire life. When I was younger I started playing as a little kid and I grew up playing until my sophomore year in high school. I played on and traveling team and started on the high school team practicing and playing with all my closest friends. I played for DeWitt and Maquoketa and I had fun both way. I always tried to stay active in it.

The team overall was really bad and we were scheduled to play an undefeated team. I was pitching this game and I was nervous. As the game went on we found ourselves winning the game. At the end of the day I pitched a whole game and had eight strikeouts! That was awesome for me, but I didn’t know if I could keep playing like this.

My sophomore year of highschool I was not very good at baseball. Honestly, the team as a whole was not very good. We were a young and immature team; we did not have very much success throughout the year. We actually had a losing record that year at sixteen and twenty-four, and that is embarrassing if you ask me. The entire season was honestly a disappointment because we knew that we were much better than that, and the next year we would prove that theory true. The next year the team made a complete 180 degree turn. Although, at the beginning of the season we started with three straight losses; The season turned for the better quickly.

My first high school experience in softball was overwhelmed with fear. Going into practice I was afraid to mess up in front of all of the seniors and the rest of the team. Finishing my first year of high school softball, became more comfortable with playing and I succeeded on my JV team. With the highest batting average, and pitching strikeouts I was in a good spot to be taken up to varsity my sophomore year. Unfortunately, due to the lack of girls coming in my sophomore year I was required to stay on JV. I was upset, but I focused on winning so I could prove to my coach that he should bring me up. Sophomore year was also when I developed an inflammation in my forearm for pitching too much. Knowing I had to pitch for my JV team to win league I continued to pitch on my hurt arm. Successfully,

Not only could I not play that season of softball but it turned out I could never play softball again because I can never run again. When I found out that I could not run I had no idea what I would do because softball was my life. I knew I still wanted to do sports but I did not know what I could do that did not involve running. That is when my dad told me about golf, I started it out

For as long as I can remember I've been out on the field with my cleats and glove. The diamond became my home and my team was my family. Every summer and weekend was filled with traveling and tournaments. Softball was my life, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. thats how I was up until the 7th grade. That was the first time i could every tryout for my middle school's softball team. I knew I had to make the team if I wanted to continue being serious about softball. The Team was made up of 7th and 8th graders which only made it harder to make the team because all the 7th graders who were on the team the year before had seniority and almost automatically had a spot on the team. I practiced harder than I ever had before the weeks leading up to tryouts just to make sure I was ready. Then, in the blink of an eye, tryouts were here. Everything I had worked so hard for was right in front of me and I was